Newspapers are dying because they were unable to create genuine new digital products, born on the web. Their digital failure is instructive for any company confronting disruption. Here's the story of what happened - in just 10 quick slides and 2 minutes.

1. what
happened to
newspapers?

2. what
happened to
newspapers?
In
10slides
and
2minutes
Peter Winter
blastofwinter.com

3. 1
Each local newspaper
operated a monopoly
defined by how far its
trucks could get by sunrise

4. 1
Each local newspaper
operated a monopoly
defined by how far its
trucks could get by sunrise
and placed a hefty
premium on distribution
into the market
it controlled

5. 2
As with any highly
profitable monopoly,
the status quo and the
short-term ruled

6. 2
The extra ‘circus rate’
levy imposed on out-
of-town advertisers in
the early 1900s is still
imposed on national
advertisers today
As with any highly
profitable monopoly,
the status quo and the
short-term ruled

7. 3
But the Internet blew
up the comfortable
monopoly

8. 3
But the Internet blew
up the comfortable
monopoly
Digital insurgents
invaded local markets
and quickly fragmented
the newspaper audience

9. 4
The Internet also blew up the
mass advertising model where
everyone always looks the same

10. 4
Digital advertising offers
greater efficiencies
through data-driven
targeting and analysis
The Internet also blew up the
mass advertising model where
everyone always looks the same

11. 5
The Internet blew up the product model
of broad, bundled content, too

12. 5
The Internet blew up the product model
of broad, bundled content, too
The world is no longer horizontal.
It’s vertical.

13. 6
So the challenge was to create
whole new digital products,
born on the web

14. 6
So the challenge was to create
whole new digital products,
born on the web
and create a whole new
product cycle

15. 7
But the culture had grown
risk-averse and afraid of
where innovation might lead

16. 7
But the culture had grown
risk-averse and afraid of
where innovation might lead
So all it could offer
was the newspaper,
online. No search.
No social.
No stream.
No voice.
No nuttin.’

17. 8
It was not enough
to persuade users
to stay around or
come back often

18. 20 years old 60 years old
8
It was not enough
to persuade users
to stay around or
come back often
And it was not
enough to
attract a younger
replacement
audience attractive
to advertisers
Nomorereplacementreaders

19. 9
So while print revenues collapsed,
Source: Newspaper Association of America
$ billions
Annual Newspaper Advertising Sales Print
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
$47 $47
$42
$35
$25
$23
$21
$19
$17

20. 9
So while print revenues collapsed,
digital revenues never
met expectations
Source: Newspaper Association of America
$ billions
Annual Newspaper Advertising Sales Print
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
$47 $47
$42
$35
$25
$23
$21
$19
$17
$2 $3 $3 $3 $3$3 $3 $3 $3
Digital

21. 10
Newspapers are dead, but a rich
and exciting era of digital news and
media has begun

22. 10
Newspapers are dead, but a rich
and exciting era of digital news and
media has begun

23. The moral of the story:
- Success Can Kill
- Don’t constrain a new
business with the interests
of its parent
- Failure is fine if it
changes behavior
- The Internet is direct
marketing on steroids, the
user database is everything
- Digital news is a commodity
if it is not differentiated
blastofwinter.com
Peter Winter

24. The moral of the story:
- Success Can Kill
- Don’t constrain a new
business with the interests
of its parent
- Failure is fine if it
changes behavior
- The Internet is direct
marketing on steroids, the
user database is everything
- Digital news is a commodity
if it is not differentiated
blastofwinter.com
Peter Winter
- Neither the creator nor the distributor is king.
The user rules all